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Prince (Prince of Persia)
The Prince is the name given to a group of fictional characters who act as the main protagonists of the Prince of Persia franchise, developed and published by Ubisoft. There have been several distinct Prince characters, all sharing general traits. The most prominent version was first featured in the 2003 game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, who has featured in a large number of games set within that game's continuity. In the 2008 reboot, the Prince is not from a royal family, but was planned to earn his title during the course of his journey. In the film adaptation of The Sands of Time, the prince is called Dastan ( ). The Prince was originally created by Jordan Mechner for the original 1989 game. His main concepts for the character were taken from Middle Eastern fiction such as One Thousand and One Nights, while his athleticism taking inspiration from the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The character's movements were created by Mechner by capturing footage of his brother and transferring them into the game using rotoscoping. For The Sands of Time, the Prince was redesigned and rewritten, and over the course of its sequels, was developed in various ways. The 2008 series reboot redesigned him around a concept of a prince in making. The character Dastan was played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who willingly accepted the challenge of playing the Prince. While public and critical opinion of individual Princes has varied, the character in general has been positively received. The original Prince has been seen as a breakthrough in gameplay design, while his appearances in The Sands of Time have varied, with particular criticism being laid against his dark portrayal in Warrior Within. The reboot Prince's portrayal has also divided public opinion, while Gyllenhaal's portrayal of the Prince has drawn mixed opinions from critics. Characteristics The Prince represents multiple characters across a number of different settings, but all these characters share general traits. Most incarnations of the Prince have been of a royal line, although in the original games the character was initially unaware of this. In the 2008 reboot, the Prince is instead a character on an epic journey that will eventually mold him into a Prince. Each Prince has been adept at acrobatics and combat, and according to Jordan Mechner, the series' gameplay and its title character were "inseparable". According to Ben Mattes, the concept of the Prince has become synonymous with the number of potential stories within the Prince of Persia series, along with defining the various incarnations' unifying traits. The version of the Prince that has gone through the most development is the character from The Sands of Time and its sequels. Mechner described the Prince as he is portrayed during the opening of The Sands of Time as "A daredevil who races ahead of the attacking army in order to gain “honor and glory” by being the first to steal a valuable trophy of war". Ceri Young, writer of The Forgotten Sands, described this young Prince as "arrogant and craving power". For Warrior Within, the Prince was turned into a darker, more callous character who had to face the consequences of his actions. This was partly due to Mallet not liking the ending of The Sands of Time, in which the Prince undid everything and consequently went unpunished for his actions. For The Two Thrones, the developers played on previous themes of duality when creating both the Prince and his abilities. For The Forgotten Sands, he was given a personality much like that present in The Sands of Time. According to Young, the Prince does still have aspects of his younger self, but is wiser from his experiences during The Sands of Time and is wary of the weight of magic on its wielders. He was also set to suffer hardships that would begin his change into what he appeared as in Warrior Within. While he has a companion in The Sands of Time, he is portrayed in The Forgotten Sands as trying to distance himself from that after those events. Appearances Original trilogy The original Prince was a noble who fell from grace when his family and kingdom were destroyed by an evil witch, with the Prince as the only survivor. Living as a street thief in an unspecified city, he eventually met and won the heart of the daughter of the city's Sultan. During the events of the original Prince of Persia, the Sultan's vizier Jaffar attempts to seize control of the kingdom, and the Prince is imprisoned in the palace dungeons. He frees himself, defeats the Vizier and saves the Princess. In Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, having married the Princess, the Prince is driven from the kingdom by Jaffar, who magically poses as the Prince to usurp the kingdom in his name and poison the Princess. The Prince learns of his former heritage, and returns to defeat Jaffer using powers gained from an ancient temple. Plot elements from the ending of The Shadow and the Flame were going to be continued in an unpronounced sequel. In Prince of Persia 3D, the Prince, Princess and Sultan visit the Sultan's brother Assan. Assan, whose son Rugnor had been promised the Princess' hand in marriage, imprisons the Prince, intent on fulfilling the promised marriage. The Prince escapes, and when he confronts Assan and the Sultan, Assan accidentally kills the Sultan, then frames the Prince. The Prince pursues Rugnor, who has captured the Princess, and eventually kills him. He then flees to places unknown with the Princess. ''The Sands of Time'' In Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the Prince and his father Sharaman attack the palace of an Indian Maharaja after the Maharaja's Vizier lets them in with the promise of treasure, among them an hourglass containing the Sands of Time. The Prince finds an artifact called the Dagger of Time, which can manipulate time. While visiting the Sultan of Azad after the battle, the Vizier betrays them and releases the Sands of Time, turning everyone but the Prince, the Vizier, and the Maharaja's daughter Farah into monsters. Despite mistrusting each other, the Prince and Farah ally. That mistrust later leads to Farah's death while saving the Prince, and the Prince uses the Sands and the Dagger to return to before the attack on the Maharaja's palace, preventing those events from taking place. In Battles of Prince of Persia, the Prince goes on new campaigns for his father, but due to his interference in The Sands of Time, a mystical being called the Dahaka appears to kill the Prince and correct his changes to the timeline. The Prince's desperate attempt to imprison the Dahaka in the Box of A Thousand Restraints unleashes a group of hostile spirits and provokes a war between Persia and India. This leads to the death of his mother and to him becoming an outcast. He succeeds in undoing his mistake, but is forced to go on the run from the Dahaka. By the events of Warrior Within, seven years after The Sands of Time, he has become callous and depressed due to being deprived of proper food and sleep by the Dahaka's pursuit. He decides to travel to the island where the Sands of Time were found and prevent their creation. Travelling to the time when the Sands were created, he encounters Kaileena, the Empress of Time who was created by the gods and is destined to create the Sands. The Prince kills Kaileena, but he unknowingly creates the Sands in doing so. Using an artifact called the Mask of the Wraith, the Prince travels back in time and forces Kaileena into his time, hoping to kill her there and create the Sands while saving himself. In the game's canon ending, the Prince obtains a magical sword and uses to kill the Dakaha when it attacks Kaileena after he brings her to his time. In The Two Thrones, the Prince returns to Babylon with Kaileena and finds that his actions in Warrior Within undid the death of the Vizier. The Vizier kills Kaileena, absorbing the Sands and turning into a god-like monster. The Prince is also partially infected by the Sands, which turns him into a Sand Monster hybrid and helps manifests an alternate Dark Prince personality. During his adventure, he reunites with Farah and struggles against his Dark Prince persona. Upon finding his father's body, the Prince decides to accept the consequences of his actions, gaining control over his Dark Prince self. He kills the Vizier and frees Kaileena's spirit, who purges the Sands from him and leaves with the Sands for another world. When the Dark Prince makes a final attack, Farah helps the Prince finally overcome his dark self. The three versions of The Forgotten Sands tell additional stories about the Prince. The main console version shows part of how the Prince's outlook on the world changed during the seven-year gap between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within. The Prince is sent by his father to the reign of his brother Malik to learn the skills of a leader , and finds the city under siege. Malik releases Solomon's Army in the hopes of destroying the enemy army, but instead unleashes a hostile army led by the Ifrti Ratash. The Prince allies with Razia, queen of the Marid, in his quest to re-imprison the army. Malik attacks Ratash and is possessed by him, forcing Razia to become a sword the Prince uses to kill his brother and Ratash. In the PSP version, the Prince goes in search of the fire spirit Ahihud, who is killing everyone of royal blood to prevent a prophecy of his death coming true. Allied with Helem, a spirit of time, he frees her sisters from Ahihud's power and kills him, ending his tyranny. In the Wii version, the Prince allies with a Djinn named Zahra, who promises him a kingdom, a princess and freedom from death. She leads him to the hidden city of Izdihar, which the Prince must purge of an evil vine called the Haoma in exchange for his promised prize. In the event, he rejects the prizes, eventually granting his immortality to the kingdom's princess Nasreen in an attempt to save her from the Haoma. While he succeeds in destroying the Haoma, the kingdom is destroyed and Zahra vanishes. In the DS version, the Prince is kidnapped by a cult whose master wants to use his blood and Razia's magic to become all powerful. An amnesiac Prince reunites with Razia to reclaim his memories and her power. With this done, they defeat the Master, but it costs Razia's life. Reboot In the 2008 reboot, the Prince gets lost in a sandstorm and falls into a valley where he encounters Elika. The prince soon aids Elika in her quest to contain the dark god Ahriman in the Tree of Life at the center of the valley. They ultimately fail, but make every effort to lock Ahriman back into the tree. They succeed at this, but Elika dies. The prince, mirroring the actions of Elika's father which originally released Ahriman, decides to bring Elika back to life, freeing Ahriman once again. Ahriman chases them to an underground palace, where Elika ultimately abandons the prince in search of her people. In The Fallen King, the Prince fighting against a new evil created by Ahriman's corruption called the King of New Dawn. He is aided by Zan, a strange magus who turns out to be the King's other half. With the help of a mysterious being known as the Ancestor, the King of New Dawn is killed and the Corruption is purged, though it costs Zan's life. The Ancestor leaves the Prince with a message of hope, saying that a new ally and an inner power would be found. Concept and design The Prince was originally created by Mechner as the protagonist of his new game. His inspiration for the character's athleticism was the opening ten minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark, referencing main character Indiana Jones' approach to situations encountered. Indiana Jones' less impervious portrayal compared to other action heroes also influenced Mechner's portrayal of the Prince. The character was based on multiple similar figures in ancient literature, including One Thousand and One Nights. The character's movements were created using rotoscoping, with Mechner video taping his brother doing the movements, then mapping them into the game. Originally a plain figure in white clothing, the Prince was restyled for its Japanese release in a turban and baggy pants. This look pleased Mechner, and became associated with the character during the original trilogy. Speaking in 2010, Mechner said that during his time writing the series bible for the production of future Prince of Persia games, he was attempting to force the character into the conventions of western fiction, forgetting the character's literary origins. By the time Prince of Persia 3D released to a lukewarm response, Mechner was actually pleased that the Prince had run his course, as he no longer recognized the character. For The Sands of Time, the character was completely redesigned, taking reference purely from the original game rather than Prince of Persia 3D. Mechner wrote the new story for the Prince purely for newcomers to the series, wanting the character to be memorable so as to provide a good "hook" for players together with the gameplay. He again drew inspiration from the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark for the opening of The Sands of Time. Something he was pleased with was his initially unsympathetic portrayal of the Prince. His inspiration for the character's more serious portrayal was the stories of the Shahnameh, although he later admitted that he could not entirely remove the influences of the original Prince. In his view, "It's Prince's inability to solve this conflict that gives him his particular charm." For his gameplay model, the Prince had over 780 movement animations scripted, far more than any other character in the game. This conversely led to difficulties with other enemy movements. The Prince was designed by Raphael Lacoste, the game's art director, who went through multiple versions from a young boy to a bare-chested older man. His final look was partially determined by the aesthetics of the game's environments. For Warrior Within, a decision was taken by the development team from the outset to make the game's atmosphere darker. They also wanted to flesh the Prince out as a character, as they had felt something was lacking in The Sands of Time. With these concepts in mind, they decided the Prince would "grow up", with the story being more focused on his character than him saving a person or place. The two people most involved with the Prince's redesigned were art director Mikael Labat and illustrator Nicolas Bouvier. During the early stages, some hybrid designs with his appearance in The Sands of Time were created, but it was soon decided that the team was not being radical enough with the redesign. His "charisma" needed to be new, yet consistent with the events of The Sands of Time. His new armor reflected this change: it is made up of interlaced leather straps, granting him protection while giving him freedom to perform his acrobatic movements. His design and portrayal in The Two Thrones was intended to be a balance of elements from both The Sands of Time and The Warrior Within. In The Forgotten Sands, the story was written around the Prince still being a developing character, learning what it takes to be a ruler and to take responsibility for his actions. His representation was a cross between his portrayals in The Sands of Time and Warrior Within. A third variation of the prince appears in the 2008 series reboot and its DS companion game The Fallen King. Ben Mattes, the reboot's producer, explained that the inspiration for the character design of the prince was to express how he will eventually become a prince through an epic journey. Additional inspiration was drawn from characters such as Sinbad from One Thousand and One Nights, Han Solo from Star Wars, and Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings. Mattes explained that when designing the character, Ubisoft wanted to communicate visually the dichotomy of the life of an adventurer. The prince wears red and blue cloth as a turban and scarves, a sign of wealth. However, he also wears plain leather leggings to help protect his legs, instead of opting for fashion. The Prince also had a companion in the form of Elika. Their relationship was based on the story and gameplay relationship between the Prince in The Sands of Time and Farah, which had worked well. The Prince has been voiced by four actors in his various incarnations, most notably beginning with The Sands of Time. The known voice actors to have portrayed the Prince are David Boat, Yuri Lowenthal, Robin Atkin Downes and Nolan North. Boat's one performance as the Prince was in Prince of Persia 3D. Lowenthal portrayed the Prince in The Sands of Time, The Two Thrones and The Forgotten Sands. In an interview, he said that "felt that he in a way originated that role". Lowenthal did not return to voice the Prince in Warrior Within, being replaced by Downes. Lowenthal felt that this was a conscious decision by Ubisoft to fit in with the game's overall tonal shift, and thought it was the right decision. For The Two Thrones, Lowenthal returned to play the role, as fans had stated their preference for his portrayal of the character. The Prince became one of Lowenthal's favorite roles, and he was pleased to return to the role for The Forgotten Sands. According to Lowenthal, his well-received performance put pressure on him in future games from both fans and staff, as he needed to remain true to and improve on his original portrayal. This ultimately gave him little creative freedom with the character after The Sands of Time. For the reboot, the staff wanted a different portrayal of the Prince to Lowenthal's, and so recast the role. North voiced the Prince for the 2008 reboot, and in hindsight felt that he did not do the character justice. In a 2012 interview, he said that "he just didn’t really feel like the American accent worked with the artistry that the game showed", further saying that he thought a Middle Eastern or British accent would have better suited the character. Other media Multiple Prince characters were featured in Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel, created by Mechner, co-written by Mechner and A. B. Sina, illustrated by LeUyen Pham and Alex Puvilland, and published by First Second Books. The story takes place in a kingdom called Marv, alternating between the 9th and 13th centuries. The story follows two men of royal blood: Guiv, who goes into self-imposed exile after clashing with his brother; and Ferdos, hidden with the region's water keeper during a purge of newborn children. Each is helped by a mystical bird named Tulen, with Guiv's actions in his time influencing Ferdos' own life. Sina was initially wary of the project, as he had negative experience of the portrayal of Midden Eastern people, and did not want to be controlled by marketing requirements. But after meeting Mechner and the editor for First Second Books, he was won over Sina's story deliberately played on the series concept of there being multiple Princes, writing his story around several Prince characters in different eras. For the 2010 movie adaptation, the Prince was given the name Dastan. According to Mechner, he chose the name as he had learned it was an old Persian name meaning "trickster". Dastan was portrayed by American actor Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal said that there were several reasons that he chose to accept the role of the Prince, including the character's appeal to him, the fact that the film was based on the video game, and he "liked to do things that people have tried their hand at and haven't succeeded." According to Gyllenhaal, he retrospectively felt he had over-prepared physically for his role as he knew little of what it entailed. He trained for five months prior to the beginning of filming in Morocco, and continued to train during the filming period. Despite the original script being written prior to the making of later games in the Sands of Time continuity, Mechner said that the production team for the film incorporated design elements from later games into the Prince's appearance. An element pointed out by staff is the Prince's appearance in the film's opening and climax, which was inspired by the Prince as he appeared in Warrior Within. The character's costumes were designed by Penny Rose. The Prince's most worn outfit, a loose-fitting spiral coat, was designed by her based on a picture from a piece of ancient Persian embroidery. Her costumes also made nods to the costume designs of the video games. Reception In 2012, GamesRadar ranked the character in his various incarnations as the 27th in their list of the "Top 100 protagonists in video games", commenting on his multiple incarnations by saying "No character of the last couple of generations has had so many radically different personality reboots." Empire also included Prince on their list of the 50 greatest video game characters, ranking him as 35th and giving particular reference to his portrayal in The Sands of Time and its sequels, saying that despite his banter being weaker in The Two Thrones, he was "a genuinely likeable guy in baggy trousers wielding a large cutlass and sporting a natty beardlet". The Prince was placed as 34th in a list by Guinness World Records of the top video game characters of all time The Prince as he appears in The Sands of Time is generally seen as the most likable version of the character, with critics and fans praising his portrayal and development. The Prince's change into a darker character for Warrior Within received a notoriously mixed response, with fans and many critics seeing it as a change for the worse. Mechner was among them, commenting on Wired that he was "not a fan of the artistic direction, or the violence that earned it an M rating. The story, character, dialog, voice acting, and visual style were not to my taste". Others praised the change, such as Heather Newman of Detroit Free Press, who praised the character's portrayal and design. Despite the mixed critic and fan reception, Ubisoft have defended the change as a legitimate evolution of the Prince's character. The Prince's return to a persona similar to that in The Sands of Time both pleased Mechner and was more favorably received by critics and fans. GameSpot's Bob Colayco enjoyed how the game seemed to self-reference the criticism in its portrayal of the character and his struggle with his Dark Prince persona. He praised the portrayal of this struggle, saying "the internal strife in the schizophrenic prince's mind forms a compelling part of the storyline". The Prince from the 2008 reboot was well received by video game critics, but criticized by fans of the series, whose main complaint was the performance of North in the role. In an article about the sexuality of the Prince of Persia reboot, Gamasutra editor Tom Cross stated that he finds the rejection of both the game and its protagonist incomprehensible. He compared Uncharted protagonist Nathan Drake to the Prince, stating that it was not just because he was voiced by North, but also because the sexual tension that Drake holds reminded him of the prince. He addressed the criticism of his voice, stating that people found it annoying and improper for him to sound so much like a Han Solo-type character considering the video game is located in the Middle East. Cross found this criticism unfair, arguing that no one criticized female protagonist Elika's North American accent and added that the prince was a harder character to like than Nathan Drake, due to him being an "unrepentant jerk" instead of a "lovable jerk," but that merely makes him a harder sell. Gyllenhaal's appearance and especially his haircut for the role of the Prince were ridiculed by several sources, but Ghazzal Dabiri, a lecturer and coordinator of Iranian studies at Columbia University, said it was historically accurate, positively comparing the portrayal of Persians in the film to those of 300 and adding: "An Iranian warrior-prince would have had those kinds of muscles! They did train in martial arts from very young ages. Some accounts say as soon as they were old enough to be taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and so on, martial arts ... was part of their curriculum." References }} Category:Prince of Persia characters Category:Ubisoft characters Category:Video game characters in comics Category:Video game characters in film Category:Male video game characters Category:Action-adventure game characters Category:Fantasy video game characters Category:Time travelers Category:Video game protagonists Category:Fictional people of the Persian Empire Category:Fictional monster hunters Category:Fictional swordsmen Category:Fictional orphans Category:Fictional princes Category:Fictional Iranian people Category:Fictional characters with alter egos Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1989